El tango de Roxanne
by Nisa-chan666
Summary: Hitsugaya goes back to the human realm to visit Hinamori, but things don't go as he'd hoped. HitsuHina, with some one-sided AiHina.


Nisa-chan666: Hey, guys, it's been a while, huh? I've set myself a challenge, so you may be getting a few fanfics in the next few weeks or months, ranging across different series, not necessarily just the series I've already written for. This one was a request from my sister, who loves Hitsugaya.

Please review after if you have any critique for me!

* * *

**El Tango de Roxanne.**

Hitsugaya stared up at the night sky, breath misting up in front of him, obscuring the full moon. His gigai was shivering in its flimsy school shirt, but he hardly noticed. He'd just gotten back from visiting Momo. As he'd expected, it had been an awkwardly painful event. It had started out well enough . . . .

* * *

"Toshiro! It's good to see you back! How have you been?"

The cheerful greeting contrasted her pale, sickly appearance. As Momo moved forward to hug him, Hitsugaya was pained at the sight of her fragile state.

"I'm fine. Has anything happened while I was gone?" he replied, trying to be light-hearted, for her sake.

"Oh, not much. Not that Unohana-taichou lets me out that much. I'm still supposed to be resting."

"I'll have to bring you back a souvenir next time, so you won't be quite so bored while I'm away," he said, smiling gently.

"Yes, that would be nice."

The conversation had drifted for a while in safe and neutral territory; no mention of her ex-Captain. While he was content talking with Momo, he couldn't help but be conscious that the subject was only just beneath the skin. It could surface without the least provocation.

"Shiro-chan, could you do me a favour next time you go back to the human world?" she said.

The nickname immediately put him on edge.

"Depends on the favour," he said, trying to sound light-hearted.

"If you see Aizen-taichou . . . could you not kill him? There has to be a reason he did all those horrible things; I know he's a good person really," she asked, the beginnings of distress creeping into her voice.

"Momo . . . ."

"Please! If you could just talk to him, I'm sure you'd understand. The captain I know wouldn't do something like that for selfish reasons," she continued, her voice rising in pitch.

Toshiro looked at her hopelessly.

"I . . . I suppose . . . ." he stuttered.

"Yes?"

". . . I'll do what I can Momo. There's not a lot of options left," he said eventually.

He hated himself in that moment; he couldn't bear this false hope she still had, but he couldn't bear to have her lose it either. She still had that fanatical look that she got when she mentioned Aizen.

She was about to speak when Hitsugaya added, "Please, don't ask any more of me. I just can't make promises like that. I will try to reason with him, but that's all I can do."

A look of surprise crossed her face, followed moments afterwards by the quiet frown she always got when she was trying not to cry.

He sat on her bedside, gently cupping her cheek.

"I'm sorry I can't give you something more definite," he murmured, frustrated that he couldn't find more adequate words for the occasion.

"It's fine. I know I was asking a lot," she replied.

The conversation was more stilted from that point onwards. Light banter seemed hardly appropriate, given the mood. When Unohana insisted that Hitsugaya finally leave, he was almost glad. He kissed her on the cheek and listened as she made her goodbyes with brittle cheer and went to leave.

Hinamori said, as he he turned his back, "Remember your promise, okay?"

He nodded, his throat suddenly feeling incredibly tight.

Turning back to her he said, "Yeah, I'll remember. But you have to remember something for me as well, you understand?"

As she nodded, he lowered his head until his mouth was almost touching her ear.

"If you ever need someone, for any reason, know that I will always come running. You can trust me no matter what happens."

Before she could say anything else, he had begun the long walk out of the Squad 4 building, tears blurring the edges of his vision.

* * *

Looking up at the full moon, he cursed the unfairness of it all. The only thing he wanted was for Momo to be happy; was that such a big thing? When he had first guessed that she was in love with Aizen, he had been a bit jealous of the man, but not enough to make a fuss. If Aizen was the one who could make her happy, who was he to get in the way of that? But after her betrayal at his hands, any goodwill Hitsugaya had had for him was gone. He thought about running Aizen through, a thrill of blood-lust shooting through his system, hand clenching thin air where Hyorinmaru should have been. And yet she still loved him, even after he had nearly killed her. It confused Hitsugaya to no end; he wanted to be there for Momo, in whatever way she wanted to be with him in. He could be her friend until the stars no longer brightened the night sky and would happily bear the ache of wanting to take their relationship further. He could take that. But he wasn't sure he could take this, he wasn't sure how much longer he could watch her heart slowly but surely shake itself apart. Behind him, the empty house stared at him with dark eyes; the others weren't back yet, having other things to take care of. In time he would go back inside, where it wasn't that much warmer. But until then he would stand out in the cold and think about how things should be, instead of how they were.


End file.
